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Turkey blasts Germany, Belgium for indifference to attacks on its nationals

Turkey blasts Germany, Belgium for indifference to attacks on its nationals

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ISTANBUL, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday lashed out at Germany and Belgium over attacks on Turkish nationals by sympathizers of Kurdish groups in both countries.

"They are attacking our citizens in Germany and Belgium. What are they waiting for (before taking any actions)?" Erdogan said in Istanbul while attending the opening ceremony of a highway tunnel.

"The attacks against our mosques in Germany cannot be explained by anything, we will not sit and wait," he added, criticizing German police for just looking on.

Supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as well as Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing, the People's Protection Units (YPG), attacked Turks and vandalized two Turkish mosques in Germany last week over a Turkish mili tary operation in Afrin in northwestern Syria, Turkish media reported.

According to press reports, the demonstrators shouted anti-Turkey slogans and punched Turkish passengers at Hannover airport, while two mosques run by Turkish expatriates came under attack in two other cities.

Last October, a group of PKK sympathizers reportedly assaulted a number of Turkish nationals in Belgium's Anvers province.

Erdogan urged German and Belgium authorities to take actions against the attacks, adding "what if these incidents have taken place in Turkey and our police remained silent, how would the entire world respond?"

Ankara outlawed the PKK for its armed struggle against the state for more than 30 years, and sees the PYD and YPG as PKK's Syrian offshoots, while the European Union and the United States have also listed the PKK as a terror group.

Turkey launched a military offensive against YPG-held Afrin on Jan. 20.